This invention relates to golf balls, and more particularly, to a golf ball having a cover which includes polyurethane rubber.
Golf balls which are currently available fall into two general categories--balls which include a balata cover and balls which include a more durable, cut-resistant cover. Balata covers are made from natural balata, synthetic balata, or a blend of natural and synthetic balata. Natural rubber or other elastomers may also be included. Synthetic balata is trans polyisoprene and is commonly sold under the designation TP-301 available from Kuraray Isoprene Company Ltd.
Most cut-resistant covers utilize Surlyn ionomers, which are ionic copolymers available from E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co. Surlyn ionomers are copolymers of olefin, typically ethylene, and an alpha-beta ethylenically unsaturated carboxylic acid, such as methacrylic acid. Neutralization of a number of the acid groups is effected with metal ions, such as sodium, zinc, lithium, and magnesium. DuPont's U.S. Pat. No. 3,264,272 describes procedures for manufacturing ionic copolymers.
Balata covered golf balls have been the preferred golf ball for the better golfer for a number of years, due to the feel properties and control which the better player can impact on the golf ball. However, wound balata balls are expensive and difficult to produce. Balata balls also generally exhibit poor cut resistance, which is also not beneficial.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,314,187 (Proudfit) describes a method for making a balata/polybutadiene golf ball cover, which imparts many of the properties of the balata cover, while being far easier to manufacture.
There are basically three types of solid polyurethanes --castable polyurethanes, thermoplastic polyurethanes, and rubber-like "millable" polyurethanes. Many of the polyurethanes have been tried in golf ball applications, with varying degrees of success.
Castable polyurethanes are made by reacting essentially equimolar amounts of diisocyanates with linear, long chain, non-crystalline polyesters or polyethers. This results in the production of a soft, high molecular weight mass with essentially no crosslinking. To solidify this material, chain extenders such as short chain diols (e.g., 1,4-butane diol) or aromatic diamines (e.g., methylene-bis-orthochloro aniline (MOCA)) are utilzed. This results in creation of linear segments, which are rigid in comparison to the initial mass described above.
Castable polyurethanes have been used in the production of wound golf balls for a number of years, as described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,123,061 and 5,334,673. However, this method production (as described in European Patent Application 0 578 466 A) is time consuming and inefficient.
Thermoplastic polyurethanes are produced through the reaction of bifunctional isocyanates, chain extenders, and long chain polyols. To produce thermoplastic properties, it is necessary for the molecules to be linear. The hardness of the polymer can be adjusted based upon the ratio of hard/soft segments produced in the reaction. Thermoplastic polyurethanes have been evaluated as covers for golf balls, with no significant success. Thermoplastic polyurethanes generally do not have the resilience properties required for a premium sold core golf ball, and the temperature required to melt the thermoplastic polyurethanes make them unsuitable for use as covers on thread wound golf balls. Recently, there has been some success in utilizing thermoplastic polyurethanes as mantle layers in multi-layer golf ball covers.